Barcelona

http://www.thebusbybabe.com/2013/5/23/4357966/thiago-alcantara-manchester-united-transfer-rumour-barcelona

Have a read of this article on subject of Thiago to united (or to another club for matter of this post),

Below are the main points from article & my thoughts on them ,

Firstly Tito is been criticized for the not giving thiago enough minutes to keep his €90m intact , which is unfair in my opinion , as pointed by the writer due to an injury thiago missed the pre-season along with the start of the season ( injury timeline was 24.05.2012 to 01.08.2012 , though he didn't missed any game of current season because of this injury but still a player who is coming from long term injury & without proper pre-season is not expected to start in quite a few matches ) & then again he got injured during September which kept him out for the period of 07.10.12 to 25.11.12 (during which Barcelona played 6 matches & that accounts for almost 10% of the games we played this season thus far) .

I do believe that tito should have picked him more often during the 2nd half of season (after almost wrapping the League trophy) but as we know tito wasn't on the bench, though he had enough say on team management but still he was in no position to decide on starting the youngster,as he was far away from training ground to assess their performances in training & to take decision on their involvement.

2ndly reliability of the rumor, if this rumor is generated from our beloved news paper marca then I am assure that thiago isn't going anywhere ,as writer posted ( What better way to take attention away from Madrid's troubles than to throw a spanner in the works of Barcelona's future) .

The drastic drop in that Buyout clause seem to be a fake one too , which I am sure must be forced by his manager ( his father I think) I one was there . I am sure tito must have had a look at that contract and must had say in it & if that clause was for real , he should have done anything necessary to compile with that .In past I have heard his father was not happy about his son's playing time & I have a feeling that his father is having a part in this rumors just to put pressure on our management to play him more.

3rdly why the teams he is rumored to isn't the best one for him (just my opinion)
United – where he is rumored to play in either that 2nd striker role or that CDM Kindoff role , United have enough player to cover their 2nd striker role with better eye for goal then thiago , so that place hardly make any sense unless they push him little deeper and make him to play in role which ozil plays for Madrid . As for CDM role I don’t think he will be best suited to play that long passes & he certainly isn’t the best option to cover their defense which is required from that position , So again if thiago is to play for untied I think they have to cut down on either 2 CDM or that 2nd striker role .

other factor which might play a part in this transfer is management change (SAF’s retirement) , I am sure any youngster would love to play under SAf’s guidance but he’s no longer united manager & I don’t think thiago would take a risk under new manager at united
Mancity & FCB will be a step down but with no guarantee of more playing time , after Man city’s (cities) treatment of youngsters like Sinclair or nasri , I am sure one would think more than twice to think about them ,same can be said for Bayern Munich but due to their super balanced side & good enough bench to cover their all starting 11.

I always applauded our youngsters mental toughness and will do it again, In most of his interviews which I have read, he seems level headed & hard working lad, who knows that it’s difficult to make a room in this star midfield but yet always patience & aware of the fact that we see him as the heir of king Xavi (which he is capable of), which leave me satisfy & assure that he isn't leaving anywhere :)

Sorry for such a big & not so well written post :)

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;)

why does thiago even have that clause in him for???? hes too good to be let go off for that cheap

Whats this thiago rumor....If this happens then Tito has to go simple as that...And personally i think he is way too stubborn as he refuses to give chances to young players and thinks (if its true) that hummels is same as pique......

If we buy thiago silva and sell thiago then somebody needs to bitch slap him......

Thiago better stay this season or else I'm gonna be depressed next season. to me he is the second most entertaining players on the team and he has potential to be a legend here. I already made my argument for him starting next season so Tito better not mess up again and play him less games than the contract holds his buyout clause. united are drueling over his price tag of only 20 mil and I think that's way too low as well.

Just take a moment to enjoy and appreciate David Villa's mastery in what could very well be his last season with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHmNZOswCYQ

Adriano extends his stay until 2017 with 90 mil buy out clause :)

Dinho wins player of the decade!

Love this bit about Atletico Madrid in Sid Lowe's article:

Atlético were El Pupas, the jinxed one, that famous advert showing a father lost for words when his son asks him: "papá, why do we support Atlético?" There was even a supporters club called The Suffering and their centenary hymn, from gravelly-voiced folk singer Joaquín Sabina, lauded: "What a way to suffer! What a way to lose!" When their centenary came around, a problem over the rights meant that they could not play it at the Calderón. So they chose the Rolling Stones' You Can't Always Get what you want instead.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/18/atletico-madrid-real-copa-del-rey

There is something so romantic about supporting a club that's destined to be second-best, always. Well, almost always ;-)

I heard we will be without Abidal this summer (official)
:O
Is it true?